I Saw Her First
by Kuro no Kaze
Summary: A better rendition of the events from Tough Love and on to the season 5 finale.


Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone that has to do with BtVS. I don't make any money from doing this either.

AN: My take on "Tough Love." This is what would have happened if Glory hadn't gotten to Tara first. There are some parts missing from the dialogue seeing as how I can't remember it word for word.

**I Saw Her First**

Tara sat on a bench by herself at the world culture fair, feeling major regret for everything she had said to her girlfriend. "Why did I say all that?" she scolded herself. Looking around at all the smiling faces, she almost regretted coming here.

Meanwhile, at the Magic Box, Willow walked around, beating herself up over the same issue. She could hear Giles saying something about petrified hamsters but she wasn't listening. She leaned on the counter, only half paying attention when she heard Giles ask if she was all right. "Yeah," she said more out of reflex than anything else. Giles made some sarcastic remark about her good mood and she explained that she had had a fight with Tara.

Giles moved toward a door in the back of the store. "Now you know that you can fight without the world ending." He makes another comment before opening the door to take out some boxes and inadvertently slammed one of Glory's minions in the head with the door. After forcing the spy into the store and making him sit in a chair, Giles begins to interrogate him.

The scabby, little creature didn't want to talk but after a little persuasion from Giles, he decided to defy his god. He blurted out that Glorificus already knew who the Key was and that she was on her way to collect it. After hearing some false information from the Scoobies, he clarified that "Glory will find the witch and there's nothing you can do about it."

Willow's heart stopped beating for a split second after hearing this news. Turning to leave and find Tara, Giles told her to wait. "No. Giles, call Buffy. Anya, check Tara's room. I'm going to check the fair." With that, she threw her jacket on and ran out of the shop. She ran as fast as she could, ignoring the pain in her legs as fatigue started to set in. "Goddess, I hope I'm not too late," she thought as she continued to run. Quickly running out of breath, she could run no further but considered herself lucky as she had just reached the fair grounds. Stopping to regain some composure, she looked around frantically for her lover. "Tara," she yelled, looking around for any sign of the blonde hair she knew so well. She started moving again, this time at a jogging pace. "Tara!" After a few minutes more of searching, she spotted her girlfriend. She looked around quickly, looking for Glory. When she didn't find the hell god, she gave a sigh of relief and moved as quickly as her body would allow over to where the other girl sat. "Tara?"

The blonde witch looked up at the familiar voice. "Willow?" She could see the horrified look on the red head's face and stood up. "Willow, what's wrong?"

When she was close enough, Willow practically threw herself at the other girl, wrapping her in one of the tightest hugs of her life. "I'm so sorry, baby." She held on for a moment longer before letting go and looking around again. "We have to leave. Now!"

Tara was completely and utterly confused. "Will, what's going on?" She didn't receive a response. Instead, she was pulled by her terrified lover in the direction of their dorm. "Willow, what's the matter?" Still, she received no response. At one intersection, they had to stop for traffic and Tara physically turned Willow to face her. "Willow! Tell me what's wrong!"

Willow looked around, still paranoid that they would be found any second. Satisfied that Glory was nowhere around, she finally looked her girlfriend in the eye. "Tara, I'm so sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have said those things."

Tara was still confused. "Will, apologies don't make people run for their lives," she explained. She took Willow's hands before continuing. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

Glancing over her shoulder, Willow noticed that they could cross the street. Releasing one of Tara's hands but keeping hold of the other, she started walking. "Glory is after you. She thinks you're the key."

"What?" Tara asked in complete shock. She released Willow's hand and started looking around herself after hearing this. Instead of finding Glory, however, she found Buffy and Dawn rushing up to them.

"Tara!" Dawn yelled. When she was in close proximity to the blonde witch, she hugged her.

Buffy stopped and stood in front of her friends and sister. "Tara, we need to get you out of here." She glanced around quickly before turning to Willow. "Will, do you know any spells to cloak us or anything? We could really use it right about now."

Willow thought for a second before nodding. Closing her eyes, she mumbled something in Latin. She instinctively knew the spell had worked and looked back to Buffy. "We're covered but I don't know how long it's going to last."

Buffy nodded. "Long enough. Let's go." She took off running down the street, always making sure that her friends and sister were keeping up. She led the group back to her house. Once they were all inside, she sighed heavily and plopped herself onto the couch. "We're good."

Tara looked down at the floor. "Yeah, but for how long?"

**TBC**

AN: Well, that's it for now. I'll be writing the next/final chapter soon. Review and let me know how it was, please? Thank you!


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